For this week's Round 4, Amanda once again recorded with her husband, Jon, our audio engineer and blogger at My Happy SAHD Life, to talk about one of the many not-so-easy pieces of special needs parenting—PTSD. Like many parents of kids with autism, they have a kiddo who has meltdowns, not tantrums. There's a difference and Amanda really, really wants people to understand and thus recommended this hugely popular article, "The Difference Between Tantrums and Sensory Meltdowns." (Yes, she wrote it, but, yes, you should also read it.) So, Amanda and Jon worry more about the “when-ifs” of a crisis occurring than the "what-ifs." They talked about how that affects their parenting: How do you keep calm so you don't create a crisis with your own reaction? How do you tag-team when both of you are feeling panicked and one person needs to at least appear calm? And how do single parents of tough kids handle all of the "when-ifs"?

Amanda and Jon share their experiences, frustrations, and strategies in a podcast that will have traumatized parents of complicated kids nodding in agreement and sympathy. And if you're not one of those parents, listen in to see what it feels like! (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience).

[This is an encore presentation of a Parenting Roundabout episode originally released on April 1, 2015 as a Round 3. If you listened to it the first time, this is your second chance to follow up on all the resources and ideas mentioned that you just never quite got around to. And if you didn’t listen to it the first time -- hey, it's new to you! Either way, please listen and enjoy.]

Involving special-education students in IEP meetings is an important step along the road to self-advocacy, but one which parents may reasonably feel carries the risk of detonating a landmine. Terri chatted with Robert Rummel-Hudson, author of Schuyler's Monster: A Father's Journey with His Wordless Daughter and blogger at Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords and Support for Special Needs, about that treacherous transition; how his daughter, Schuyler, now 15, is handling it; and how he's handling including her in an often hurtful and antagonistic process. We considered the power of a kid handing over an iPad with a question to be asked; our suspicions that the barrage of test scores that opens an IEP meeting is just there to break parents down; and how really lousy it must feel to sit in a room where people are saying things about you that you don't understand but that don't sound good. For more on IEP meetings, read Robert's recent blog post on IEPs and meet the players in Terri's IEP team article. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, please come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

As a parent of a child with special needs, you'd like to think that the transition to adulthood will be some sort of triumphant finish line to all the advocating and planning and worrying and IEP meetings. Sadly, although the IEP meetings end, the rest of that stuff just keeps on keeping on. On this week's Round 4, Terri chats with monthly contributor Robert Rummel-Hudson about being overwhelmed by the uncertainty of our kids' future and the certainty that we'll have to keep providing direction, even as there's less and less of a graceful way to do that. Come wallow with us in worry, won't you? (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

For this week's Round 4, Amanda chatted with her husband, Jon, our audio engineer and blogger at My Happy SAHD Life, to talk about the ... educational challenge of taking children with special needs out in public. Do you enlighten that judgey lady on the plane about the tic disorder that's making your kid kick her seat? Do you wear T-shirts inviting people interested in why your youngsters do what they do to look it up online? Do you politely suggest that people mind their own beeswax, or apologize afterwards for your child's alleged disruptiveness? What you can't really do is hide your kid in a closet, however much certain members of the public might like you to. Amanda and Jon share their experiences, frustrations, and strategies in a podcast that will have any parent of children who get those looks in public nodding in agreement and sympathy. And if you're not one of those parents -- maybe you need to listen and think about how it feels?

For a special Round 4 this month, Amanda got together with our audio engineer, Jon, to talk about the experience of being a stay-at-home father to children with special needs. Oh, and did we mention Amanda and Jon are married? (To each other.) They chatted about how hard it is to have two working parents when you have kids with special needs and how that led to their decision to have a stay-at-home parent. Amanda talked about a study she’d read about the connection between poverty and disabilities. Jon spoke of the assumptions people make of dads, particularly when it comes to managing appointments, therapies, medications and so forth. And he had sage advice for dads who are trying to break down stereotypes. Listen in for banter, chatter and more. You can also visit Jon's site My Happy SAHD Life. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

This week on Round 4, Nicole chatted with Robert Rummel-Hudson about his exciting new business partnership. What started out as bit of an experiment has become a life-changing moment. Rob tells us that recently he was invited to speak at a conference about his book, Schuyler’s Monster, a story about his daughter’s nonverbal world. While Rob has spoken at dozens of conferences before, this time he decided to try something different and ask Schuyler, now a tenth-grader, to participate in the presentation. After Rob spoke, Schuyler came on stage to answer several audience questions using her AAC device. Well, apparently, Schuyler stole the show! Rob was thrilled to watch her confidently engage and interact with audience members and soon realized he had become overshadowed by his own daughter. He tells Nicole that he sees Schuyler’s potential as a self-advocate and is excited about her future. Nicole thinks that Rob could soon be out of job! To follow Rob’s new adventures in public speaking go to www.rummelhudson.com, and to read some of Schuyler's answers, go to her dad's blog. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://www.parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

For a special Round 3 this month, our two Round 4 podcasters, Robert Rummel-Hudson and Charlie Zegers, got together to talk about the experience of being the father of a child with special needs. They chat about articles on special-needs moms that could just as well be dad-inclusive, stereotypes of special-needs dads and dads in general, the way the father narrative is evolving, and their frustration with dads who do not step up. For more on the subject, read Rob's book Schuyler's Monster and his blog posts on Fighting Monsters With Rubber Swords and Support for Special Needs, and visit Charlie's site Parent Spectrum.

Summer presents a challenging amount of time to fill for any parent, but when your child needs routine and structure to make it through the day, finding predictable ways to fill that time is a particular concern. Terri chats with Charlie Zegers, who writes about sports and also about parenting kids on the autism spectrum, about strategies for a successful summer, including camps that can accommodate your child, structured time at home, and activities like bowling, fishing, kayaking, going to movies, catching a baseball game, and maybe even taking in some theater. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

On the one hand, as parents of kids with special needs, we're desperate for them to do the things their age peers are doing. We want them to be adept at the tools of the world today and fluent in the language of our times. On the other hand, don't lie and stop cursing and don't make secret social media accounts, and get away from that computer and stop playing video games and put down that phone. Amanda chats with Charlie Zegers, who writes about sports and also about parenting kids on the autism spectrum, about how you tease out what's the condition and what's the age, and how to discipline without stamping out important developmental progress. Are we expecting more from kids on the autism spectrum than we'd expect from typical kids, as About.com's autism expert Lisa Jo Rudy asked in an article on her site? Or should we be expecting more from typical kids? Listen in for some good food for thought on parenting on and off the spectrum (and if you're interested in getting your kids coding, the sites referred to are Scratch and Game Salad). If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.